Discovery and the crank snap issue

Discovery and the crank snap issue

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Discussion

RRH

Original Poster:

565 posts

254 months

Saturday 11th January 2020
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I asked this on one of the Land Rover forums as it makes sense to me.

With all the scare stories of snapped cranks on the disco 3 & 4, why not simply replace the crank before it snaps and wrecks the whole engine?

Surely that could be considered say £1k of preventative maintenance?

You wouldn’t leave the timing belt to chance and the consequences are similar.

Any thoughts?

A.J.M

8,012 posts

193 months

Monday 13th January 2020
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The biggest issue with that is where do you get the new crank, bearings etc from?

LR don’t sell them. So it’s a 3rd party and whatever they deem worthy of making the crank from.

Then the cost of removing the body to get the engine out, then strip down, then refit and fit body on.

You won’t get change from £2k+ for that work.
If. Any take it on.

Hashtaggggg

1,941 posts

76 months

Monday 13th January 2020
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I was talking to 2 Landrover specialists last week.

They basically reiterated the above. Land Rover do not supply replacements

They, both, independently said that most snaps occur within 60,000miles. If they get over that they generally keep going (with maintenance). One of the garages has a rough disco 3 with over 250,000 miles. As the mechanic said Dog rough but runs well.

bakerstreet

4,822 posts

172 months

Wednesday 15th January 2020
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RRH said:
I asked this on one of the Land Rover forums as it makes sense to me.

With all the scare stories of snapped cranks on the disco 3 & 4, why not simply replace the crank before it snaps and wrecks the whole engine?

Surely that could be considered say £1k of preventative maintenance?

You wouldn’t leave the timing belt to chance and the consequences are similar.

Any thoughts?
What crank snap issues on the D3 engine? It's mainly a D4 engine issue.

It would not put me off buying one and there really isn't much you can do to prevent it. yeah, you could do regular oil changes and convince your self that will stop it happening. Not sure there is any proof of that.

RRH

Original Poster:

565 posts

254 months

Wednesday 15th January 2020
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Fair enough, thanks for the replies.

It was just a thought.. seemed common sense, coming from a background of old fords where crank regrinds and replacements were commonplace after 'death rattles'.

Reading the forums (a bit like googling health symptoms I suppose), it would make sense to spend a couple of grand to prevent what could be a £10k problem.. I have no idea what a replacement engine would cost in the real (non-dealer) world, but a £10k bill would make my (otherwise pretty good) Disco completely worthless!

Cheers again chaps

Throttle Body

450 posts

180 months

Wednesday 15th January 2020
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Isn't the answer to buy a warranty? Cheaper than doing the preventative work unless you are going to keep the car for a long time.